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Take Care: Self-Care Awareness

Self-care is not treating yourself to a chocolate fudge brownie sundae or spending the whole weekend watching rom coms. Self-care is anything thathelps you takegood care of your body, mind, and spirit– whether that’sa solitary walk in the woods, a bubble bath, or a healthful meal. The keyquestionto ask yourselfisthis: Will this activity bring me long-term happiness and support my overall well-being, or is it a quick fix that will ultimately leave me feeling even worsethan before?Self-care is choosing what’s right for future you.

Why Self-Care Is Important

Many people–myselfincluded –find it hard to take time forregular self-care practices.Sometimes it can seemthat your responsibilities to your job, your spouse, or your kids don’t leave you any time for yourself. But taking care of yourselfgives you theenergy andresiliencetotacklethe challenges in your life. Andif you have kids,seeing you take care of yourselfsets a good example for them and helps themestablish healthy habitsof their own.But aside from all that, you deserveit, just for you!

Levels of Self-Care

Jane Taylor of Habits for Well-being breaks self-care into 8 different levels:

1. Physical Self-Care

Taking care of yourself physically is the most basic level of self-care. That means getting enough sleep, movement, and healthy nutrition.

2. Psychological Self-Care

The level of psychological self-care is where you learn new things, practice mindfulness, and explore your creativity.

3. Emotional Self-Care

On the emotional level, you take steps to manage your stress, while developing compassion for yourself and others.

4. Social Self-Care

Part of caring for yourself is maintaining social relationships, even if it’s just one or tworeally goodfriends – people that you can trust and confide in.

5. Financial Self-Care

You may not think ofmonitoring your spendingas “self-care,” but taking care not to live outside your means isactually oneof the best ways you can take care of yourself!

6. Spiritual Self-Care

Call it “spirituality,” call it “religion,” call it “faith.” Whatever you call it,this is the level where you connect with something greater than yourself.

7. Environmental Self-Care

Your immediate environment has a big impact on how you feel. When you practice environmental self-care, you rid your home and office of clutter,so it creates a feeling of peace.

8. Professional Self-Care

This is the level where you share your strengths and gifts with the world. It’s about living your purpose.

Hopefully thinking of self-care in these broad terms will help you to see that even when you’re doing mundane things, like picking up around the house or balancing your checkbook, you’reactually practicingself-care! Of course, you also want to throw some truly enjoyable things in there, like losing yourself in a good book or going for a hike. Just remember, there’s no pressure to master all eight of these levels at once!At Juice Plus+, we’re all aboutOne Simple Change.

7Tips for Self-Care

So how do youget started takingbettercare of yourself? Here are 7 ofmy favorite ways, culled from this article byPsychology Today:

2. Move. Same goes for exercise: its benefits go beyond the physical to helping reduce anxiety and boost mood.

3. Learn to say no. It’s okay not to take on more projects when you’re close to burnout. It takes practice, but you canlearn to say no to others and yes to self-care.

4. Get outside. Nature heals-- get into it.

5. Spend some time organizing. A little less clutter goes a long way toward freeing up your mental space.

6. Schedule a date with yourself. If you wait until everyone else’s needs are met, you’ll never have time to meet your own. Schedule your self-caretime, andbe fierce about guarding it.

7. Eat right. Your food is yourfuel, andmay be the number one contributor to whether youagewell or poorly.

About That Last One…

According to Dr. Tina Jones of Emory Adventist Hospitalin Smyrna, Georgia, many of us are not focusing on getting the quality of nutrition we need consistently.Luckily, Juice Plus+ can help.

“Juice Plus+ helps correct the American diet,” she says. “The things you can get from taking Juice Plus+ you may not necessarily see or feel but the research shows us what it does in the human body and that is very, very comforting.”You can check out the Juice Plus researchhere.

One of the things that happens when people take Juice Plus+,aswe’ve learned through our Family Health Survey, is thatasmall commitment inspires bigger steps, like eating more fruits and vegetables, consumingless fast food,and drinking more water and fewer sugary beverages.

Self-Care for Kids

Kids need self-care, too. That could mean some downtime every day,away from electronic devices, to read, climb a tree, or daydream. It could also meanspendingsome bonding time with you, by helpingyoucook dinner or playing a card gametogether. What helps a kid feelcalm andhappy will differfor everychild, buttry to buildspace andtime into yourlittle one’sday for whatever that is.

What are your biggestself-carechallenges?Which level do you feel you need to work on most?